41 comments:

Thin-skinned Obama strikes again. Of course the NSA replacement, Tom Donilon, is a longtime Fannie Mae lobbyist and personal friend of the Biden family. In other words, Obama is taking a pass on appointing a new National Security Advisor, essentially leaving the seat open.

Rahm was hardly the worst of those bugs. With the departure of Jones (and, soon, SecDef Gates), of course, the remaining bugs will have a clear field to flit around.

But, at bottom, the fellow who really matters on these issues is Obama, and he's not going anywhere for at least 2 years. Woodward's focus on the back-stabbing nature of the WH bureaucracy overstates the importance of the intrigue and self-aggrandisement that goes on among the factotums.

Not entirely unexpected (he was hardly a good fit - William Ayers is more The Zero's idea of an NSA), but I can't help wondering if maybe Jones doesn't know something bad is coming and wants to be as far from DC as possible when it hits.

Raids left! The scripture speaks of the world's treasures as being in a place where moth and rust destroy and thieves break in and steal. That summed up the White House as run by the treasure loving Chicago confidence men. But who will keep the water bug infestations down now?

Mostly he's been a lawyer and politico, though he did work for Warren Christopher in the State Department. Not exactly a gold star for the resume.

But interestingly, the history of National Security Advisors is filled with relative foreign-policy lightweights serving Presidents from both parties. By that I mean people who might think and talk a lot about international politics but didn't really get their hands very dirty before taking the NSA job. Kissinger and Rice are notable examples.

Gates asserted that Donilon would be a "disaster" as National Security Adviser, the book alleges.

Jones called Donilon into his office late last year to discuss Jones's plans to step down from the post, writes Woodward. After praising his deputy for his "substantive and organizational skills" which made him indispensable to the president, he also reprimanded Donilon for three major mistakes:

First, he had never gone to Afghanistan or Iraq, or really left the office for a serious field trip. As a result, he said, you have no direct understanding of these places. "You have no credibility with the military." You should go overseas. The White House, Situation Room, interagency byplay, as important as they are, are not everything.

Second, Jones continued, you frequently pop off with absolute declarations about places you've never been, leaders you've never met, or colleagues you work with. Gates had mentioned this to Jones, saying that Donilon's sound-offs and strong spur-of-the-moment opinions, especially about one general, had offended him so much at an Oval Office meeting that he nearly walked out.

Third, Jones said that Donilon was not good in his dealings with his staff at the National Security Council, displaying "too little feel for the people who work day and night...."

I've watched Patton, A Bridge Too Far and Tora Tora Tora 172 times so I think I have some solid qualifications.

while General Patton and Admiral Yamamoto said things that would be highly relevant to an NSA, I think you should also add:

"The Longest Day"

to the required watching. The leadership exhibited by the two American Brigadiers on Omaha and Utah beaches have lessons that every President needs to know, and Obama seems to ignore each time he whines about having been left a mess by Bush. The message? "things are tough, make a decision and move on"

The quotes:

Brigadier General Norman Cota: I don't have to tell you the story. You all know it. Only two kinds of people are gonna stay on this beach: those that are already dead and those that are gonna die. Now get off your butts. You guys are the Fighting 29th.

Brig. Gen. Theodore Roosevelt Jr.: As best I can figure it, we're on the wrong beach. The control boat must have been confused by the smoke from the naval bombardment. They landed us about a mile and a quarter south of where we were supposed to land. We should be up there. Col. Caffey: I agree with you, but what are we gonna do now? Our reinforcements and heavy equipment will be approaching in a very few minutes. What happens if they land at the right beach? Brig. Gen. Theodore Roosevelt Jr.: The reinforcements will have to follow us wherever we are. We're starting the war from right here. Head inland. We're going inland.

Jones was right. You can't pull national command authority-level briefings out of your ass in six hours, especially when you have a job other than making powerpoint slides all day.

Jones knew a thing or two about the one-third/two-thirds rule, too. Which I suppose you're going to have to google, because your usual puppetmasters at TalkingPointsMemo don't know about either, so they haven't sent you the email with your daily talking points yet.